Laguarda.Low designs Shenzhen’s ‘city within city’

New York-based Laguarda.Low Architects has finished designing a 3.7 million sqft (343,700 sqm) mixed-use development for Shenzhen in China.

For CM-OCT Investment Co, the Longhua New District project comprises eight highrise towers, more than 20 low-rise retail buildings, two cultural buildings and open green space.

CM-OCT Investment Co is a joint venture of two state-owned developers, China Merchants and OCT.

As both master planner and master architect for the project, and working with US landscape design firm SWA, Laguarda.Low envisions the project as a city within a city, giving each building a distinct architectural character and connecting the residential, office, retail, hotel and cultural buildings through landscaped pedestrian walkways and a central green corridor.

Its plan positions a multi-level retail village at the centre of the site, surrounded by four residential towers to the northeast, three office towers to the southeast, a hotel to the south, a mall to the west; and a performance hall and exhibition centre to the north. A central loop connects the zones and provides access to parking below.

“The quality and arrangement of the buildings, along with the dynamic public spaces, creates a vibrant setting to live, work, and enjoy the development’s cultural and entertainment facilities,” says Laguarda.Low principal Pablo Laguarda.

Construction work has started, and when complete, the development will connect directly to public transportation via the elevated Hongshan Subway Station and a new bus terminal.

OCT Group and Laguarda.Low have already collaborated on several mixed-use developments including the OCT Bay development in Shenzhen, comprising 3.2 million sqft of hotel, entertainment, retail and restaurant offerings on Shenzhen Bay. They also produced OCT Chengdu, a mixed-use project next to the Happy Valley theme park in Chengdu.